Artists featured in Tubes Artists Gallery are: Clare Thatcher, Charles T. Maher, Jayne Deach,
John Lamonby, Carl Longmate, Nina Stallwood, Robert Twigg, Lindi Kirwin, Nick Moore,
Artists summaries written by Denis Taylor unless stated otherwise
Villu Jaanisoo and thinking different article written by Spike
TUBESthe leading art magazine both online andin print go to: www.painterstubes.com
TAG#5 Tubes Artists Gallery Clare Thatcher Charles T. Maher Jayne Deach John Lamonby Carl Longmate Nina Stallwood Robert Twigg Lindi Kirwin Nick Moore artists summaries written by Denis Taylor unless stated otherwise Villu Jaanisoo and thinking different article written by ‘Spike’front cover- painting shown by Clare Thatcher - title “Feature of Landscape” oil & pigments on plywood pan- els 19050mm x1220mm. (2017) John Moores Painting Prize 2018 Walker Art Gallery Liverpool, UK. TAG Tubes Artists Gallery is designed and produced by Studio 5 Sweden all the art shown in this issue is copyright of the individual artist the article “Villu Jaanisoo and thinking different.” ©Spike2020 painters TUBES magazine & TAG -Tubes Artists Gallery retain the exclusive rights of all material ©Tubes-TAG#5-Studio5Sweden-2019 reproduction of content in any form or selling of material or images is strictly forbidden without the written permission of the copyright holder reproduction or use of the ©brand names or any part of TUBES magazines is strictly forbidden ©studio5sweden2013-2020 issues #1 to #14 painters Tubes magazine TAG#1 to TAG#5 enquiries or permissions please apply to Studio 5 Sweden Ekerodsvgen 253 266 95 Munka Ljungby Sweden [email protected] +46 76 19 19 007 registered urls: www.painterstubes.com - www.painterstubes.gallery - www.tubesmag.com
Villu Jaanisoo, and thinking different...a review by ‘Spike’ “this wonderful sculpture of a Gorilla, Viillu created with recycled tyres, it was destroyed by morons with fire.”
Villu Jaanisoo - thinking differentSome readers may well remember that Apple Mac advertisingcampaign, one that ran back in the day when Apple was the onlyPC that a creative would entertain, the headline of which was‘think different’ - A slick piece of copy writing, that the Estonianrenown sculptor, Villu Jaanisoo, took literally. Villu is an artist thatexemplifies that brilliant Apple statement of advise to the underthirties by creating excellent and unique sculptures.Born in Estonia in 1963, Villu thought different about his chosen artform completing his education and graduating from the Estonia ArtAcademy in 1989 from the start. Estonian was still under the ‘heal’of the USSR when Villu graduated from the art academy, howeverby spring of 1990 the Estonian SSR Supreme Soviet declared theauthority of the Soviet Union in Estonia illegal. A transition periodwas announced, which in cooperation with the Estonian Congress,would lead to the restoration of the Republic of Estonia.In May, the name Estonian SSR was abolished and replaced by theRepublic of Estonia. It took another year before full independencewas enjoyed by the Estonia population. Villu had already beencreating his own Estonian independence support by creatingmonuments of the heroes of Estonia, namely Villem Reiman (KolgaJaani) created 1989 and Jakob Hurt (Otepää) created in 1990.By 1991 and after Estonia was fully independent, Villu travelledto Finland where in 1992 he made a portrait of Juice Leskinen, aFinnish prominent singer songwriter, which got the artist noticedimmediately.
Once established in Finland, Villu began to create various sculpturesup to 1993 accumulating in a very important commissionedmonument for the Victims of the Estonia Ferry Disaster (1994).‘Broken Line’ a huge steel contemporary sculpture which wasinstalled in 1996.The artist moved around Northern Europe creating as he visiteddifferent countries. His interest centred on ‘iron-casting’ - Here hecreated a host of works of art - and taught how to create art by usingthe ancient technique of live iron casting, teaching and holdingdemonstrations in Denmark, Hungary and several venues in the USA.Villu has exhibited at numerous European national and internationalexhibitions all through the 2000’s. Accomplished as the artist is, heis also always looking to create something different and unique. Hisposition of professor of Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts atHelsinki University, where his five year term ends in December 2020,has given him a host of enthusiastic artists students to inspire and beinspired with since 2015.One wonders where, when his term is over, that Villu will demonstratehis restless need to ‘make something new’ will take him. What is forsure will be whatever he chooses to do, it will be different. And onthat note, when TUBES spoke with Villu about creating this review,Villu informed them that he has been working on a ‘floating studio’.This will act not only as a studio, but also as a mobile Gallery that cantaken to various ports of call that are located around the Baltic Sea.On a more static note (and works of art), we can look at the massivesculptures (shown on these pages) that demonstrates his vision.Rubber Duck, Elephant, Paradise island and Gorilla are only four ofthe structures Villu made from reclaimed rubber tyres and are notonly great works of art, but they are obviously incredibly difficult tophysically make, yet they are emit humour, love and respect for theanimals they are based on.It is sad that some morons in Helsinki thought it ‘Fun’ to burn downthe Gorilla that was installed outside of Helsinki University, idiotsand jealousy have no heart or conscious. From reclaimed tyres toreclaimed plastic sheets that are shaped into a huge bird, then toa an enormous seagull’s head made from fibreglass and polyesterresin. Villu keeps his ‘reality’ of the image philosophy in tact, but don’tbe mistaken, thinking that Villu is a traditionalist, far from it, the artistis no stranger to unique contemporary abstraction either. “Himalaya”(left) is an example of alternative thinking - made with recycledfluorescent tubes - and ‘Wave’ (extreme left) is an installed sculptureof ‘Sound’ that could as well be called “an island that is made withnothing but sound.”These are just a few of creations from the mind of Villu Jaanisoo.For me, he is one of the best sculptors in Europe and I will look withgreat excitement to see the next three dimensional works of art thathave been created by this artist who has been thinking different forover the last thirty years. written by Spike for Tubes Artists Gallery
Front Cover photograph ©Clare Thatcher Clare Thatcher painting “feature of Landscape” 1900mm x 1220mm oil and pigment on plywood panels exhibited at the John MooresPainting Prize exhibition at Walker Art Gallery Liverpool 2018
“Spirit of place” oil and pigment on plywood panels.1220mm x 1800mm 2019 Clare Thatcher Clare is an accomplished contemporary artist that TUBES has featured in the magazine before today. in TAG #5 I’m delighted to publish not only her art, but give an opportunity to give readers her own view about about her art... “...My work is deeply connected with a sense of place. The locations I choose and the focus of my attention are highly selective, personal and resonant of individual landscape features, associated thoughts, emotions and reflections. Central to my practice is the use of pure colour which I make from pigment. I select a limited palette and through the impact of both colour and surface I aim to capture the mood and sensation of an ever changing landscape.These paintings, a continuing series; are my response to particular landscape features that make reference to transition and the consequences of perpetual flux, and which have had a profound effect on me whilst walking through coastal and tidal areas...” RWA Academician Candidate Exhibition 2019
“Spirit of place” Oil and pigments on plywood. 300mm x 400mm 2019. Clare continues... “ I choose subject matter that evokes a very strong, emotional, felt response of natural elements that have a profound effect on me. I have to capture and make work about. It can be in a specific location, I can access and revisit, each time experiencing something new with fresh eyes. Or places I visit just the once and remains in my Alumni Day. University of the West of England Drawing and Print Degree. Arnolfini Bristol.
“Sense of place ll.” Oil and pigments on plywood panels - 1220mm x 1800mm - 2019 memory and my drawings....” “...there is a cross over in these different places, which creates a common thread, working in a continuing series. ‘Sense of Place’ and ‘Spirit of Place’ series are strongly influenced by revisiting the Tate St Ives and the surrounding area. Drawing and observing in particular the landscape and geological forms of Wilhelmina Barnes-Graham works. Rocks, St Marys Scilly Isles, 1953, Rock Theme (St Just). ‘ Unconscious Place’ series of works on paper are in response to my time at PADA Studios, Barreiro, Lisbon Portugal September 2019, Turps/PADA Residency. I select a palette I have felt when in a place. My line drawings in charcoal or pencil suggest colour to me, capturing the mood and sensation transporting me back there.” “Place” oil and pigment on linen- 600mm x 1500mm 2019.
artwork: “For Whom the Bell Tolls” Charles T Maher “a painter of surprises.”
The surprising thing about Charles work I made a note when I first viewed his work, was the variety of subject and style. However when I found out more about him it all became clear. His former life before turning to art some twenty years ago, was that as an engineer. His background in the aerospace and automotive industry is visible as inspiration in many of his abstracts.artwork: “Harbour Moorings with 25Terns”Oil and oil based printing inks on board. 610mm x 510mm
The more organic work seems to have surfaced when he moved to Weymouth in Dorset, an area I personally know very well (having had a studio there myself in 1996 to 1998).Charles holds a diploma in art and design and is currently finishing a BA (Hons) degree. Here is what Charles has to say about his current feelings about his art.... “...painting mainly in oils acrylics and mixed media focusing the work on the Dorset’s Jurassic coastline working from images found along the coast. Attracted to the air of timeless isolation of this area of Dorset particularly the Fleet and Portland’s rugged coastline of stark grey towering cliffs, the abandoned quarries and the rusting derrick cranes.”
here we witness the sheer variety ofCharles work from nature to an indus-trial mechanical inspiredabstraction image list:opposite age: “Connections” mixedmedia on board. 580mm x 370mmThis page Top: “At the edge of na-ture-” Mixed media on paper. 420mmx 840mm. Middle left: “JurassicStorm” Mixed media on board.580mm x 370mm. Middle right:“Nocturn White Nothe” Mixed mediaon board. 460mm x 580mm. Bottomright: “HAB Portland August 12th”Acrylic, PVA on cardboard. and hard-board relief on harboard and timberpanel. 200mm x 240mm
“lazy Laila” Oil 500mm x 500mm Jayne DeachJayne is not untypical of the many painters today who found themselves ‘returning’ to painting after dedicating theirtime to nurturing a family and working with a steady job to ensure a good start in life for all her children. The last fouryears she has painted with great energy using various tools from brushes to palette knives.And more importantly with a huge slice of dedicated energy.
“Sea View through the flowers”St James Park- 400mm x 500mm
Wild at Sea 400mm x 500mmJayne’s work shows her love of painting which isapplied with instinctive marks on the surface. Here Ihave chosen a mix of her work - one of which for me,is a stand out piece and possibly indicates a clearpath for her to follow.The painting I am referring to is the ‘figure’ (lazyLaila) painted in muted tones, shown lying down,perhaps asleep, maybe dreaming of somethingwonderful? The expression seems to indicate that.The work has an almost a post-modern-Japanesefeel about it and the oblique composition certainlyhelps this feeling of eastern influence in composition.I think this is the stands out piece in the examplesthat have I viewed. There are of course many of theartists work shown here are very good paintings, thehouse by the lake and the two nature paintings areaccomplished works.I look forward to watching her work rapidly progressas I think Jayne’s art undoubtably will. Ocean Calm. Oil.
painting title: “On the Road.” Mixed media. 610mm x 490mm -2019 John LamonbyEmbracing the intuitive form of expression, is the way John explains his art. Although thisseems like shorthand for a complex reasoning to me. John has his studio in Portugal, havingbeen born and raised in the North East of England. He made his mark in Art by painting thenatural world around him in the UK. However, a change happened in his ‘subject-matter’when life became more of a survival conundrum rather than a certainty. Luckily for ‘art’ this isa resolved situation and now his focus is to paint from a purely expressive viewpoint and fromwithin, rather than from external references.
painting title: “Let Rivers Flow.” Oil. 570mm x 510mm 2020.painting title: “Let Rivers Flow. #2”Oil. 1000mm x 870mm 2018.
painting title: “Let Rivers Flow. #3” Oil. 550mm x 510mm 2019.Here is how John feels is the best description of his relationship to Art and what drives hiswork today... “...a painting is directly related to how I feel, always evolving the subject or a particular motive shifting as in a moving landscape of emotions, ideas, experiences and imagination.The freedom to paint without any set or formulated limitations is important to me.To let go ! an outward expression, a transitional process leaving space ahead for the spontaneous and the unexpected. I allow the work develop, to come from it’s self, as it were. I aim for the entity of the painting that evokes the emotions and warrants investigation.
Carl Longmate“a natural painter out on his own.””
“I love to paint outdoors and spend as much time as possible under the sky.”Carl Longmate is a dedicated plein air painter. Carl is a man of few words andprefers his painting to speak for him.The sheer quantity of what he has created is almost an overkill of pleasure. Thereis nothing complex about his visual interpretations of the natural environment thathis work easily occupies.They are realistic but very a specific transcription that his ‘eye’ sees and his handconveys of what is in front of him. They are not copies or photographic - therewould be no point to that - Carl has a style that is as natural as the ‘subject’ hepaints which is generally the area where he lives.
various examples of Carl’s work from theHomfirth & Derbyshire which is part of thewell know “Peak District” of the Northern EastMidlands of the UK.Holmfirth is a small town in the Holme valley,West Yorkshire. The buildings in the area areconstructed of stone and the Town rests in thePennine hills.The area is known in the UK from the famousTV series “last of the summer wine” that wasmostly filmed here.
Carl has a dedicated subject line, that is the painters surroundings.It brings to my mind the life and work of Russell Howarth, a landscape artist I must admit that Iadmire greatly. And one I have had the pleasure and the privilege to spend time with whenI interviewed him for painters Tubes magazine.Carl’s work is rather unique and I think probably very well liked on social media and no doubt verywell collected. Yet, I feel his painting habit is motivated by far more than the selling of canvas’s.It seems to me that a painter simply cannot paint this amount of work without being obsessed.And fortunately for the people that love landscape, Carl continues to produce canvas after canvas.The recent poor weather in the UK must have been torture for him and I noted that he has resortedto painting still life (only until the clouds and rain depart, of course, when he will be seen with hiseasel and tubes of paint looking for a view that inspires him)Carl’s work has been exhibited both locally and nationally and is without doubt an example ofoutstanding originality in a very ‘popular’ contemporary art genre.
Nina Stallwood in her Studio
Nina StallwoodOne painting that was posted on the TAG group on facebook that caught my eye wasa work by Nina. It was entitled Luminance 2 (the painting above). I imagined there wasalso a Luminance 1 - somewhere - which I guessed a collector had snapped up.There was something very appealing in the semi-abstract shapes and the un-naturalcolour lines that appealed to my aesthetic.It is probably this transient quality in paintings that I like more and more, as I view thehundreds of work each week for recommendation to Tubes. I have read from her web sitebiography, Nina was a photographer, before she turned to creating art with pigments,a brush and her obvious artistic sensitivities.This could explain why Nina herself prefers the uncertain image rather than the ‘totally’photographic translations or reproductions that many people seem to favour these days.
... Nina says this about her work....“...my paintings capture something ofthe transitions between night and dayand the tenuous relationship betweenfigurative and abstract occurring frommemory that sit in the same spectrumusing different painting styles andmaking them work together. Mood and atmosphere, light andshade, movement, the calm beforeand the eye of the storm areinterwoven creating paintings thatspeak of disrupted realism.”paintings: top: “Ross’n’Moo”middle: “Evening Light”bottom: “iridiscent wave”
painting above : Abstract #1 Robert TwiggI viewed a few painting only recently and posted them on the TAG group ofartists, I do that when a work takes a hold in my ‘painters’ eye. Robert wasanother photographer who turned his image making into an Art form andthe transition from clicking a button to painting seems to have been, not sosurprising for someone used to ‘composing images’, a natural thing.Nature is certainly his focus - The works shown here are ruthless in their rawbeauty - using the good old wax mediums help Robert to chisel out realitywith abstract consequences. I do hope to view more of the abstract work asthe example above is entitled Abstract #1 - Does that means perhaps we canlook forward to seeing abstract #2, #3, etc?
Robert has this to say about his works...“..I work predominantly with oil paints and cold wax medium on cradled wooden panels. These panels allow me to carve the basic linear form into the wooden surface. This carving frequently vanishes beneath layers of paint andwax but the form is always there...like the landscape itself, the light, colours and clouds being the only mutable elements... changing but changeless.” painting left: “Crack and Corner” painting bottom left: “Careless Torque” painting bottom centre: “Goliaths Groove” painting bottom right: ”Tippler Buttress” painting below right: “Three Aretes”
Lindi Kirwin“an artist of creative diversity”
Lindi Kirwin I know Lindi’s work quite well although I have only met her once, that was at a Book Signing for the 100 year anniversary at Guild of Artists in Stockport (Cheshire UK) of which she is a life long member. What I know of Lindi is that she is a multi-disciplined artist. Her range can move from designed fabric for a piece of furniture, hand painting mirrors, figurative painting and still life work. The range is impressive and its difficult to pin point one genre where she excels, as it seems she is accomplished at all those separate disciplines...artwork. left page: Figurative mono prints for a Dorling Kindersley Book on Art (2006).This page: Chair Created as a family memorial homage (using Daisies painting, left. Created withChalk paint, Acrylics, Crackle glaze and wax finished on board.
...Lindi’s studio is based in an old textile mill North East of the City of Manchester and sheis a known artists with her peers in the City. Her works has been acquired by collectors formany years and probably will be for many years to come.Here is what the artist has to say about her art...“...I am a passionate self-taught artist working in my studio at Vernon Mill inStockport, Cheshire, in Studio 27, 3rd floor. I would describe myself as a mixedmedia colourist as it is my intention to engage my audience in my use of vibrantcolours and interesting tactile textures in my paintings, designs and forms. Muchof my work is based on nature, however, I am diverse regarding subject matter tokeep fresh with ideas.”
Artworks: Opposite page,top: “White Nancy” Bollington. 24 inches x 24 inches (600mm x 600mm) Chalk paint, acrylics, crackle glaze, wax finished on board. bottom: Cave Painting, part of themed concept designs for ‘Cave Restaurant’ This page: Figurative painting - (Commission) **Drybrush, acrylic (**no water used). 16 inches x 20 inches -450mm x 475mm
towards Sevilla Cathedral- Oil on Board Nick Moore “an artist born into a painters world”
painting: Cromer Sands, Norfolk. Acrylic on board Nick Moore. Art runs in the veins of Nick, quite literally, he has memories as a child being surrounded by his father’s ever evolving paintings. And once the smell of paint gets in ones nose it never leaves. For Nick, life and responsibility came as a first and having spent many years as a printer and then as a graphic designer, he picked up the brushes, reasonably recently (2017). And began expressing himself with paint. The beginnings look as though he will continue to progress rapidly as a painter of some quality. These examples give a clue of what may follow. It is certain that Nick will discover his own path and continue ashe has began, experimentation and taking risks with his choice of subject and materials he chooses to paint on. (please note Nick was a late addition to my selection for TAG #5 therefore some details may not have been acquired before publication date - Denis Taylor Curator)
above and below: Studies (figs and study of a half used match)